Membership Sideblog
- The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
July 31, 2010 | 7:45 pmGrowing up in North Dakota during the 50s and 60s, I was privileged to experience something that's all too rare now - the old-fashioned family doctor. "Doc" delivered babies, set broken bones, treated pneumonia, and helped Grandpa with his newfangled hearing aid. Doc knew the community, the families, and the individuals whose basic medical needs he treated from birth through the end of life. Some of you who grew up in that time, and perhaps in smaller communities, may remember a Doc of your own. . . . → Read More: The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
- Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
July 28, 2010 | 10:51 pm
Let’s talk about cats, cats and more cats! Why?? Because Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is full of cats and we have many more arriving daily. As of today, there are 44 cats on the adoption floor with more awaiting their surgeries so they are ready for adoption. There are cats in every corner of the shelter who need homes! We are in desperate need of homes for these cats. We cannot emphasize this enough. So we are having a cat sale and we are calling it Kitty Mania ! Kitty Mania is this weekend, beginning Thursday, July . . . → Read More: Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
July 12, 2010 | 11:50 am
The free market does many things well, but we know it does not do everything. Even market fundamentalists concede that the public must build roads, put out fires, police streets, and provide national defense. Most people, at least those to the left of the Tea Party edge of political spectrum, accept that the government must also be involved in education, disaster relief, and health care. That is, certain services must be rendered — necessary services, universal services — whether or not those services are financially profitable. If your house is on fire, you do not have time to . . . → Read More: On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
- Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
July 12, 2010 | 10:56 am
Okay, so most of the news about the Vintage Band Festival so far has been about the bands. But there’s a number of other events during the weekend. Like the VBF Contra Dance, for instance. The Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance will feature music by The Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be led by dance instructor/caller Robin Nelson. Dancing will begin at 8:30 p.m. with a “Grand March” led by 60 costumed members of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Brigade, followed by a variety of period dances including polkas, contra dances, schottisches, reels and waltzes. . . . → Read More: Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
- The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
June 27, 2010 | 8:00 am
Even before I read the first word of this article I had a visceral reaction to it. The accompanying photographs — my eyes tend to skip over photographs in magazines — affected me in a manner that is difficult to articulate. I knew, immediately I knew, I was not going to like what I was about to read. In fact, for that reason I put the piece aside. Not now, I thought. Maybe tomorrow, I said to myself. But, then, I couldn’t not read it, either. If you have not done so already, I hope you will read . . . → Read More: The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
- Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
June 27, 2010 | 7:54 am
June may be Adopt A Cat month here at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society and we have lots of wonderful cats, but we also have PUPPIES! We have a male Newfoundland mix named Chong who is 6 months old, he was a stray so we don’t know a lot about him. He loves to play! We also have three Australian Cattle Dog mixes who are two months old. Marcia, Bobby and Cindy were born at the shelter and spent some time in one of our fabulous foster homes. They are now back at the shelter and ready to find . . . → Read More: Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
- Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
June 23, 2010 | 9:35 pm
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out at local parks or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events. Relay for Life of Rice . . . → Read More: Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
- Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
June 16, 2010 | 9:04 amNow Showing! Live Kittens playing! You can now watch our adoptable animals at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society (PEHS) live 24/7 on the new Critter Cam installed in conjunction with KYMN Radio. Thanks to the fine folks at KYMN radio we now have a live feed of our adoptable animals showing on our website and KYMN’s website, Tim and Jeff are AWESOME! Currently the Critter Cam is featuring kittens available for adoption. Watch them play, sleep, eat, and everything else they do 24 hours a day 7 days a week! It’s better than anything you can see on TV! . . . → Read More: Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
June 11, 2010 | 11:34 am
A BIG Thanks to all of you who came to last Monday’s Volunteer Organization Meeting, and to those who contacted us saying you wanted to help but could not make the meeting. We have pretty full support for Communications and Design and Build sub-committees, and we got a web graphic designer to help with the site. Alice Thomas is facilitating the Communications group, and Steve Edwins is facilitating the Design and Build group. What we are missing and really need are Fund Raising people. We have two grant writiers, but we need folks who are committed to the . . . → Read More: Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
- Photo albums: 2010 Prairie’s Edge Humane Society Walk for the Animals, by Bridgette Hallcock Photography
June 11, 2010 | 8:09 am
Thank you to all of those who came to Alexander Park on a beautiful Saturday morning in May to help support Prairie’s Edge Humane Society! I have placed all of the fun photographs on my Bridgette Hallcock Photography Facebook page so that everyone can see how much fun we had! See the two 2010 Walk for the Animals albums here and here. If you would like a print, please contact me, as the proceeds will benefit the animals at PEHS.
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Citizen Opposition to Proposed Annexation
By Tracy Davis, on January 24, 2008, 7:11 pm
 The Center for Sustainable Living recently posted on an issue that came before the Planning Commission a couple of weeks ago. The CSL post,
“Council to Decide Fate of Agricultural Land on Feb. 4″, includes a letter and a call for action regarding a request, by Johnson-Reiland Construction Inc. of Burnsville, for annexation of 55 acres just east of Oak Lawn Cemetery on Wall Street Road.
At the Jan. 8 meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to recommend denial of the request. (See the background information and staff recommendation here.) The Planning Commission recommendation was then forwarded to the City Council, which has the final authority in these matters.
More than 30 residents turned out at the Planning Commission meeting to comment, and the Commissioners had many more comments via e-mail and letter before the meeting. The sentiments of the roughly four dozen people whose comments we received could be summed up in the words of one e-mailer: “. . . we do not need more development by large outside development companies at the cost of our prime agricultural land.”
The 55 acres in this annexation request consists of land purchased by the developer some time ago; the land was zoned as agricultural at the time of the sale. The land is not within Northfield’s current OR proposed priority growth area. Priority growth areas are identified after considering many factors, e.g. environmentally sensitive areas, transportation connections, existing infrastructure, and many more. The idea behind it is, when we are ready for another round of growth, here are the designated areas which are best suited to future development of one sort or another.
Transportation is a particular concern with this property. There’s really only one route from the property into downtown, and this route is on residential streets which could not handle the daily addition of 1600 cars. (Proposed zoning of 2-4 houses per acre, with the 9.7 trips per day per household that is the American average…. you do the math.)
In addition, the Housing Market Analysis done in 2007 as part of the Comprehensive Plan update process states:
According to the City of Northfield (Community Development Department), there were 700 single-family detached lots in the development pipeline on November 29, 2006. Of that number, 465 (66%) had been built and there were approximately 235 remaining lots. Based on the average absorption pace of 47.7 lots per year in the newer developments, it would take about five years to build out existing projects. However, the overall absorption pace is much slower when including the older projects. Furthermore, the absorption trend has slowed in the past year, so build-out is likely to take somewhat longer.
In short, even before the market tanked, Northfield had a more than adequate housing supply for its projected population growth. Since residential development costs more to service than it generates in tax revenues, residential development in general is a net loss to the city, so we have to be careful. Northfield has experienced excessive (unbalanced) residential growth in the past decade or so, and we are still trying to play catch-up with the demands on our infrastructure, services, and school district.
I heard this week’s Planning Commission work session that the request for annexation had been pulled from the City Council agenda, but I haven’t spoken with anyone to confirm that, and the Feb. 4 documents aren’t yet up on the City website. However, regardless of the outcome of this particular request, the issues raised are significant ones for Northfield, and they should be considered and discussed. Read the post by the Center for Sustainable Living and tell me what you think.
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but I’d have a hard time during the sabbatical not paying attention to see if that was actually the case. I think the more places in Northfield...
Thanks so much for putting this issue on Locally Grown, Tracy! A lot of us “sustainable types” like myself also need education on the planning process and how development impacts city infrastructure, services, etc.
When I do the math, their really isn’t a balanced win-win situation, and Johnson-Reiland Construction would be the only clear winners. A net loss to the city, and a net loss to agricultural land.
Tracy, thank you for this post. This is such a relevant issue for the citizens of Northfield, whether you live near this particular parcel of land (as I do) or not. This proposal is “obscene” on so many levels — worse of all the fact that it seems as if (at least to me) that Johnson-Reiland is basically requesting that the city bend established ordinances just to accommodate them (and to do so quickly and “under the radar” of the general population). I attended the Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 8 and was encouraged by the resident turn-out (I counted much more than 30 people!) and their heart-felt comments, as well as those made by members of the Planning Commission and City Planner Dan Olson. But this isn’t the end. This is the sort of unnecessary development that could have a really unfortunate domino effect on this community — and others across the state and across the nation. We have an opportunity to set an example, by continuing to cherish our rural heritage.
If people knew what a rare and highly coveted resource they have in this black gold spread upon this Minnesota earth, they would never use it for anything like housing or factories. It is sacrilegious to do so at this point.
Main Entry:
sac·ri·lege
Pronunciation:
\?sa-kr?-lij\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus one who robs sacred property, from sacr-, sacer + legere to gather, steal — more at legend
Date:
14th century
1 : a technical and not necessarily intrinsically outrageous violation (as improper reception of a sacrament) of what is sacred because consecrated to God 2 : gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing
— sac·ri·le·gious Listen to the pronunciation of sacrilegious Listen to the pronunciation of sacrilegious \?sa-kr?-?li-j?s also -?l?-\ adjective
— sac·ri·le·gious·ly adverb
— sac·ri·le·gious·ness noun
Excellent work, Northfield! I am very much in favor of this sort of thoughtful attention to all the needs of all the people. In just a short time (say, 50 years) we are going to be erecting statues to the planners who preserved the farmland we need to support our needs. Planning commissions, who are able to look beyond the next election, are the best hope we have for such foresight.